After being beaten by Reid Boucher – playing in his first NHL game – in the Shootout, Peter Budaj made saves on Travis Zajac and Elias for the W.

New Jersey outshot the Canadiens 34-30.

On to the Shootout

Max Pacioretty had his stick explode on him while steaming toward the NJ net in OT.

Brendan Gallagher hit the post behind Cory Schneider.

The Shootout

Boucher (first game in NHL): Goal!

Eller: Goal!

Zajac: Save

DD: Goal!

Elias: Save!

Dull game goes nuts

Four third-period goals?

Crazy!

After Andrei Loktionov and Michael Ryder made it 2-1, Lars Eller broke out of a slump with his eighth of the season.

With 66 secopnds left and OT looming, P.K. Subban coughed up the puck to Patrik Elias, who snapped it past Peter Budaj.

Then with Budaj on the bench, David Desharnais deflected Brian Gionta's shot past Cory Schneider.

On to OT

Scoreless second

No goals, but New Jersey enjoyed long stretches of puck possession.

Shots were 10-7, the Canadiens' total boosted by a late-period flurry that saw Cory Schneider get lucky on a Tomas Plekanec blast.

The opposite of Monday

The visiting team outshot the guys in red jerseys 13-9.

And the Canadiens got a lovely goal by Brian Gionta, off a perfect feed by Daniel Brière. It was the first goal on Cory Schneider in his last three home starts.

The goal came after NJ's Eric Gelinas rang one off the post behind Peter Budaj.

It's déja vu all over again

For the second time in three nights, your Montreal Canadiens play New Jersey.

This time the game will be in the Devils' home barn, the Prudential Centre in Newark.

Other than a different locale, little will change.

As has been the case for decades, New Jersey will play disciplined defensive hockey. They will minimize errors, take away the middle of the ice in their zone, frustrate their opponents and anaesthetize fans.

It almost worked at the Bell Centre Monday night.

The Canadiens won 3-2 despite being outshot 30-17.

(And if you thought that was impressive, how about Dallas beating Chicago 4-3 Tuesday night while being outshot 50-18.)

750 Comments

I like how measured and forgiving you can sound sometimes, except when you it comes to Subban. I didn’t see the slew-foot, but would be calling you a liar if I argued it didn’t happen and I don’t think you are one. So will let that go.

But you must be totally unforgiving to be so harsh on the give-away, considering the player wasn’t attempting a fancy move or anything when it happened. He’s a skillful puck-handler who just happened to mishandle the puck on that play, like we see happen all the time to players of all types and caliber. The way he’s been playing in the last month, someone who knows hockey like you should be able to file this under ‘forgiven’. But you have been one of the skeptics even on the Norris, so I understand where you’re coming from.

Adidess, I agree that Subban’s bobble should be forgiven, but to say that you didn’t see the slew-foot? Subban is, without question, one of the dirtiest players in the game. He’s a master, though, at picking his spot

I was annoyed with an incessant run of comments extolling the virtues of P.K. Subban on a night where, to be frank, he stunk.

I’ve followed P.K. Subban since he played with the Belleville Bulls. I like a lot of things about his game, and he is one of the three players that make the Habs what they presently are (along with Markov and Price).

But for all that people on this board whine about how hard the media is on Subban, it is just as bad that some here can’t acknowledge when he has a terrible night when it is blatantly obvious that he was not even close to his Norris Trophy form. People get a brutal case of bleu-blanc-et-rouge coloured glasses on this site, which is understandable but sometimes annoying.

It’s going to be a darn tough game for the Habs to win tomorrow. If the Habs were fresh I’d give them at least 50/50 with they way they’re playing. Unfortunately they played tonight and Monday while the Bruins had time to rest and mend.

The legs will be burning and the bruises and cuts will still be fresh but it would be fantastic if they grinded out a win! Hopefully Murray is fresh and ready to go. You never know, Parros could come in handy as well if the score gets out of hand or to make an early statement.

I would rest Briere. Move Bournivale to Pleks line and have Parros, Moen and White as the fourth line. You know the Bs are going to be gunning for the Habs so push back will be important. And yes Frankie B takes a rest in favour of Murray.

missed this one again and will miss tomorrow. Only game I’ve seen lately was the SO loss to Caps. 4 points:

1) wasn’t I just saying that Eller, who apparently has no shot, or at least rarely takes one in regulation, seems to do well in the shootout?
2) OK so it’s the Devils and they are no longer an elite team, but good to see a comeback from the Habs and a goal scored with a 6th attacker.
3) I can live with 2 wins out of 5 on shootouts. That’s a lot better than the last couple of years
4) will DD lead the league in deflections that go to video review and are upheld? He has the advantage that the stick could be above the shouler and still be comfortably below the crossbar. And yeah his shootout record is looking good

New Jersey – Montreal Canadiens right-winger Max Pacioretty has become the 197th player to join a lawsuit against manufacturers of composite hockey sticks.
Pacioretty phoned his lawyer after tonight’s game against the New Jersey Devils in which his stick snapped in two as he took a shot on a breakaway with the game on the line.
Montreal tied the game at 3-3 in the final minute and then won it in a shootout, with Lars Eller and David Desharnais scoring, using wooden sticks set aside for such situations.
Pacioretty was both exhilarated and livid after the game – ecstatic over the win, but steamed over his stick breaking at a crucial time
“That could have cost us the game, the way PK almost did,” Pacioretty said. “At least PK can make up for his miscues and help us to victory, but not that stick. Once it became useless, it was useless for good. Except for one thing. If there had been a company rep from one of the stick makers in the building, I would have lodged a protest – right in the chest.”
The players’ lawsuit alleges Nike, CCM, Louisville, Bauer, Easton, and others “wilfully choose not to exercise common quality control measures practised by manufacturers around the world in the production of goods, no matter what the industry.”
The action launched last month further accuses the stick-makers of “using inferior materials, condoning shoddy craftsmanship, and engaging in deceptive marketing.”
Players are getting “shafted” by their suppliers, it states.
Pacioretty said composite sticks “do add 15 to 20 miles per hour to a player’s shot but it’s getting so you can’t trust them anymore. It changes the way you play. Look what it did to Davey (Desharnais). He hardly took a shot the first 20 games because he was afraid something like tonight would happen. I finally convinced him he had to have faith in his equipment, and it turned his game around. He’s still not taking many shots but at least he’s willing to use his stick for tip-ins. And he uses a wooden stick for shootouts. I think we all will now.”
Pacioretty was asked if he would use a non-composite stick full-time if the manufacturer assured him it wouldn’t break when he took a shot.
“Sure would,” he said.

Are you calling the reporter a liar!!!??
I’ve forwarded your email to the newspaper’s Corrections department (they stay up to midnight)
Maybe the shafts of the sticks should be sheathed with a lightweight, shock-absorbing, rubber-like material. That’s been vulcanized, of course.

P.K. Subban is an exciting player, but he played a brain-dead game tonight.

That power-play 1 on 4 rush was a comedy of errors. If you have 4 guys on you, all 4 of your teammates are open. That’s some free advice, P.K. Thankfully, a short-handed goal did not result.

Then he deals an unforgivably bad giveaway under no pressure, giving the Devils a late lead.

Finally, he got away with an egregiously brutal slew-foot on one of the classiest and most respected players in the game, which led directly to the tying goal.

I would not at all be surprised to see the NHL take a look at that and possibly mete out a suspension given Subban’s previous history with slew-foots. Don’t forget: Subban was fined $2,500 last January for slew-footing Chris Kunitz, so he is now a repeat offender. The Sportsnet highlight package picked it up pretty well: Subban clearly kicked Elias’ skates out from under him.

Cry me a river. If you’re talking about when Subban took down Elias which led to the point man being open for the tying goal, you’re crazy. The game was lost at that point so it’s time to chance getting a penalty and take someone down to get open. Who gives a damn if Elias is a classy player!

While you make valid points, the NHL won’t suspend Subban. In fact, he is receiving preferential treatment to date, certainly from NHL referees. In overtime, he roughed up Zidlickey, then grabbed him and threw him to the ice WWE style. The referee was right there, but no call. No point having referees if you’re going to tolerate blatant infractions.

Subban really has to lose his tough guy act. Tonite it was Zidlicky. Monday he roughed up Zubrus three straight times. No call, of course. He has instigated or tried to instigate fights with Turris, Tlusty, Fleishman, and a slew of others. The pattern is obvious. Subban always bullies non-combatants, usually Europeans, and invariably escapes penalty calls. Let’s see how many fights the paper tiger tries to pick with Chara, Lucic, and Thornton tomorrow nite.

I have to ask for forgiveness for bashing Pleks n Patches and team after Blues loss….watching NHL network n Habs some special about them on….been a fan even before I had hair #1 between my legs …I should know better…hope this train keeps on rolling thru Beantown..Boston’s won enough this past decade…Go Habs Go

David Desharnais was clutch again tonight. His stats for the season are weak, and don’t reflect how clutch he was tonight as he was against Columbus in the-comeback-from-2-nothing-down-and-win-in-a-shootout game. Habs haven’t swept Devils back-to-back in memory. Desharnais has variations on how to find the five-hole, as good as the game’s pure goal scorers which he is not. Emelin was great. And finally, just 48 hours ago, Subbie swept a couple off the goal-line, so tonight was a bit of “regression to the mean” and allowed vociferous fans to see what the coaches have spotted without a goal being scored against to underline the point.

These two games vs the Devils showed that a strong forecheck and size gives the Habs major problems in their zone..To have playoff success two from the group of Gorges,Diaz and the Cube have to be upgraded…

Habs seemed to put on more pressure from what I saw compared to the last game. Missed the second as I had to pick up Mrs. Prop but listened to it on the radio. Hopefully there’ll be enough left in the tank vs the Broonz.

TSN says P.K tripped Elias on tying goal, but fails to point out that P.K was tripped on the give-away goal. And 3 times tonight P. K bailed Markov out. Why is he always under the microscope? I think I know the answer.

Budaj struggled in the third period, but Schneider was even worse. Brodeur was bad 2 nites ago. Bernier was atrocious 2 nites earlier. Neuvirth coughed up the dribblet to Moen, while Harding and Kuemper couldn’t stop anything in the first win of the current streak. Canadiens have had the good fortune to rarely face NHL goaltending during this great run.

Once again the former players come back to haunt their old clubs: Gionta with his goal and his shot that Desharnais tipped in, Ryder with his second goal in as many games against the Canadiens after a long, long scoring slump.

The tying goal that made it 3-3 was first tipped by Pacioretty before being redirected by Desharnais. I don’t know what you call it. Chemistry. Skill set. Sixth sense. Quite a spectacular goal given the circumstances.

Soobie screwed up. Then MT leaves him out there. Soobie says hey I love this support. We tie it up with Soobie on the ice. We win in the gimmick contest. Sweep Jersey in a back to back. Who are these guys??

Boone gets his hat-trick. It’s not that God loves you that much, Mike, it’s that God loves me a little bit, 1 for 3’s worth. Congratulations on Liverpool’s success; I just wish it wasn’t Suarez scoring four goals for you.

We could really use a Philly win tonight. It would put us firmly ahead of Detroit. And the Devils just picked up a loser point to climb closer to the Leafs. If Philly wins there will be two teams hot on the Leafs trail.